Under Our Paper Moon
by AgonyElysium
Summary: After Mikan's mother disappears, she has to get used to life in a new town, and a new school. However things take a turn when Mikan meets high school bad boy Natsume Hyuga and they begin a reluctant companionship, bound by their own dark pasts. But Mikan and Natsume have more in common than they think, and the more they discover about themselves, the closer they become.
1. Breaking Down

**Chapter One**

 **Breaking down**

Sakura Mikan watched sadly they drove away from her old house, the house she had lived in since she was born. A small knot of sadness had formed in her chest, threatening to make her cry. She clenched her fists hard, her nails leaving small crescent moons in her flesh, she wouldn't cry, this was hard for her uncle too, she could see it in the set of his jaw, in the small wrinkles that formed around his eyes, despite the exaggerated smile on his face. Mikan's uncle Narumi Anju had become her guardian in recent months after the disappearance of her mother, and though he tried to be strong for Mikan she could see the strain he was under. He had loved Mikan's mother almost as much as Mikan herself.

Forcing her tears down, she rested her cheek against the cool car window, it was raining outside, and the cloudy sky made everything look gray, Mikan thought that it was a perfect portrayal of her mood right now.

"Are you excited Mikan?" Narumi asked, tilting the rear view mirror so her could see her better. "You'll finally get to see the big city! Tokyo here we come!"

Mikan wasn't excited at all, she had lived her whole life in the small town of Nikko, and wasn't confident at all that she would fit in at her new high school in Tokyo. Despite her emotional turmoil she forced herself to smile.

"Yes, It'll be lots of fun!"

"I'm sure you'll have plenty of friends in no time," Said Narumi, turning his eyes back to the road. Mikan nodded her head but let her face fall once she was sure he wasn't looking. Tokyo was only a 2 hour drive from Nikko, but it felt like forever. She sighed as she watched the unchanging gray landscape from her window. Life had been so uncertain ever since Yuka left, questions plagued Mikan every day; had her mother been kidnapped? Was she still alive? Was this somehow Mikan's fault? These questions kept returning to her no matter how hard she tried to force them down, it was a nightmare. Why had her mother done this? She hadn't even left a note.

At some point during the drive Mikan must have fallen asleep because when she woke up they were pulling into the drive way of an old fashioned Japanese house, it was big, bigger than Mikan's old house in Nikko with a stone walkway and a koi pond out front. The house was in one of the poorer areas of Tokyo so it stood out in it's opulence. Turning around in his seat to face her, Narumi offered her his best fake smile.

"Isn't this great? Go on, take a look inside,"

Mikan stepped out of the car and looked around, it really was beautiful house, the koi pond was well kept and full of jewel bright fish that darted away as Mikan approached it. Narumi came to stand beside her, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She leaned into him, unable to hold her tears any longer. The two of them stood in silence as Mikan cried out months of stress and anguish, until the front door slid open and out stepped an old woman, Mikan's grandmother. Yukihira Noriko was a small, frail old woman in a comically oversized kimono, but the ferocity in her gaze chilled Mikan to the bone. Mikan knew that Noriko hadn't liked her mother, but surely the old woman understood that Mikan was also a product of Noriko's son Izumi too, right?

Noriko said nothing, she just turned back towards the doorway of the house and walked inside, leaving the door ajar behind her. Mikan bit her lip and looked towards Narumi who had a pensive look on his face. For the first time since leaving Nikko, Mikan felt afraid, she was a small town girl in a big city living with a woman who obviously hated her. All she wanted at that moment was to go back in time, to when it was Yuka, Izumi and her, all together, and happy.

XxXxXx

Dinner that evening was a very tense affair, it was only Mikan, Narumi, Noriko and Noriko's companion Matsushita Hotaka, and it was very clear that Noriko and Hotaka were not happy about their company. Noriko spent the entire meal glaring from Mikan to Narumi while Hotaka would only open his mouth to ask someone to pass a dish his way. Finally, as Noriko was serving everyone desert (stale strawberry cookies) she looked at Narumi and said.

"What happened to your sister? If she had been around more I would have had a beautiful blonde grandchild, instead of this one." she shot Mikan a very wicked look. Narumi's eyes grew cold but his smile didn't fade.

"Mikan-chan is very beautiful Noriko-san, she has her father's eyes," Mikan beamed at Narumi, she didn't know what she would do without him, she wondered how long he would stay.

"But the rest of her is that _woman_ ," she snapped. Hotaka stood up from his seat without a word, and Noriko's jerked around. "Where are you going?" she asked, her voice becoming higher and sweeter. Hotaka said nothing, but simply ascended the steps to where his bedroom was with Noriko scurrying after him like a distressed mouse. As soon as both of them were out of earshot, Narumi wrapped an arm around Mikan's shoulder and she felt tears prick her eyes. Before she knew it she was sobbing in his arms like a baby, something she had promised herself she wouldn't do. Narumi didn't say anything, he only rubbed soothing circles into her back.

"I can't do this," she sniffed, choking back another deluge of tears. "We need to go back Narumi, please!"

"It's only for a little while," he whispered, burrying his face in her hair. "I'll be with you every step of the way, you can do this, you've gotta be strong." he gently pried her off of him and held her at arms length, "I _will_ find your mother Mikan, and then we can all go home,"

"Together?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"Together." he smiled.

 **A/N: Hullo! I'm really excited about this fanfiction, I'll be honest, I have no idea where I'm going with it, but I have good feelings about it! Please let me know what you think. Thanks!**

 **Love**

 **AgonyElysium**


	2. A Small Courage

**Chapter Two**

 **A Small Courage**

Mikan fidgeted uncomfortably in her new school clothes while Narumi "ooh-ed" and "ah-ed" like a proud mother. Noriko stood by impassively, barely looking at her granddaughter.

"You'll be fighting off boys with both hands," Narumi said with a wink. Mikan tightened the red tartan bow around her neck, blushing profusely.

"I certainly hope not," she said softly. She turned to grab her school-bag but Narumi held up a hand to stop her.

"Before you go, I have something for you," he smiled at her and retrieved a long white box from his coat pocket. He handed it to her, his eyes sparkling with pride.

Mikan felt Noriko's cold glare as she accepted the box, she brushed it off and opened her gift. Inside the box were two red silk hair ribbons, Mikan brushed her hands over the smooth fabric before looking up at Narumi.

"They're beautiful," she said. Narumi beamed at her and she smiled despite herself.

"Let me tie your hair up for you," he said, and Mikan stood still trying to ignore her grandmother's hate filled stare as he tied her shiny chestnut hair into two braids. "There," he said with a sigh as he looked her over again "That's perfect," He gave Mikan a quick hug and escorted her towards the door. To both of their surprise, Noriko followed them, still glaring hatefully at her granddaughter.

"Goodbye," Narumi said as they reached the porch "Don't worry, everyone will love you, they always do." he kissed her forehead and disappeared into the house, leaving Mikan alone with her grandmother. The old woman sniffed and turned to head inside, but not before muttering.

"You look just like that _whore."_

~X~x~X~x~X~

School had never been hard for Mikan, she had never been _popular_ , but she was never disliked and always had at least five friends. But that was Nikko, and Nikko was much smaller than Tokyo. And besides that Narumi had signed Mikan into one of the more elite schools in Tokyo, Alice Academy. All of the other students seemed so perfect and sure of themselves, Mikan was sure she looked like a country bumpkin compared to them. She clutched her bag in her hands so hard that her knuckles bleached white, and she kept her eyes focused on the relentlessly polished linoleum floor.

"I haven't seen you around here before!" Mikan flinched as someone tapped her on the back. She turned to face the speaker, looking like a deer in the headlights. Judging by her uniform, the girl was a Senior, four years ahead of Mikan. She wore her dark pink hair cut short, but not in an unfeminine way and her brown eyes sparkled with mischief. She wore shorts under her skirt and wore a bandage on her left cheek, she looked sort of like a gangster.

All eyes were on Mikan and the girl which was the last thing Mikan wanted for her first day. She forced down her nervousness and offered a bright saccharine smile.

"I'm Sakura Mikan, I just moved here from Nikko," the girl's smile faded and her eyes widened.

"Sakura?" she asked in a whisper. Mikan opened her mouth to respond but the girl was already walking away, fading into the crowd.

Other than her odd experience with the pink haired girl, Mikan's first day at school was pretty uneventful, at least, it was until lunch period.

Alice Academy's cafeteria was so full that Mikan could barely hear herself think. Hoping to avoid another weird encounter Mikan quickly ordered her lunch and looked for the least crowded table available.

None of the tables were completely empty, but there was one, in the middle left corner that was _mostly_ empty and Mikan decided that mostly was better than nothing. As she approached the table she tried to look at the other people sitting there as secretively as possible. There were only three others, all girls, the one on the left had long, straight blue-black hair and pretty dark brown eyes.

The girl to the left had even longer hair about the color and texture of cotton candy, she had big beautiful blue eyes and a smile on her face, she looked like the type of girl who was excited for everything.

The girl in the middle was smaller than the other two and had her midnight black hair wore in a stylish boy cut. Mikan couldn't see her face because it was obscured by the book she was reading _DIY Robotics_. Mikan sat at the other edge of the table, not wanting to disturb the other three girls who were clustered in a way that suggested they were friends. But as she navigated around the table she collided with something, and her food tray clattered to the ground.

Mikan began scrambling to pick up her food items, she was just about to say sorry when a haughty female voice said.

"Are you an idiot? Don't you even know how to walk?" Mikan looked up and into the brown eyes of an extremely pretty girl, Sophomore judging by her uniform. Her perfectly manicured brows were narrowed in irritation but her mouth was quirked into a small, taunting smile. Mikan knew theses types, she had dealt with them back at her public school in Nikko. Mikan gathered the salvageable food and stood up, not breaking eye contact with the girl. She made to move past her, but the girl shoved her and sent her stumbling back, scattering her food again. For the second time that day, everyone was watching Mikan. She flushed in embarrassment and anger.

"I just want to sit down," she said quietly.

"I asked you a question though," said the blonde girl, smiling prettily. "Do you know how to walk?"

Mikan scanned the cafeteria, looking for someone, anyone to stand up for her, the cafeteria was still. With and embarrassed sigh she said.

"Yes, I know how to walk."

"Can you walk and see at the same time?" the blonde girl asked.

"Yes, I can walk and see at the same time."

"That's funny, because I could have sworn you just bumped into me."

Mikan felt tears stinging her eyes. She tried her best to force them down and she was just mustering the courage to shout at the girl to let her pass when a cold voice spoke up.

"Leave her alone Koizumi"

Mikan searched the sea of faces for the speaker, and found him. It was a boy, and not just any boy, it was the most jaw droppingly beautiful boy she had ever seen in her life. He was tall, she could tell because he was leaning against a table, his arms crossed. His skin was flawless, and lightly tanned, his hair was a messy raven black and his bangs hung in his face, nearly obscuring the most fascinating part about him, his eyes. They were red, the color of fire, but they were so cold that Mikan had to look away from him. The boy was pure danger, and every small movement he made was imposing, intimidating. The blonde girl looked away from Mikan and took a small step back, her lips curled into a charming smile.

"We were only having a bit of fun Natsume-kun, it's a girl thing," she looked at Mikan "right?"

The boy's eyes were on her, she could feel them boring into her, into her very soul. "Let me pass," she mumbled and pushed past the girl. She was about to leave the cafeteria when she heard someone call after her. She turned to see the cotton-candy haired girl from earlier, waving her hand and smiling.

"Hey! Come sit with us!"

The girl with the short black hair had put down her book and was now staring at Mikan with her cheek resting in her hand. She had cold purple eyes, but they were cold in a completely different way from the red eyed boy's. And in those flinty purple eyes, Mikan thought she saw a brief flash of approval.


	3. Bitches and Black Cats

**Chapter Three**

 **Bitches and Black Cats**

All three of the girls were remarkably different, not only in appearance, but in character. The cotton candy haired girl was named Umenomiya Anna and she was as fluffy and bubbly as her pink hair would suggest. She prattled on and on about cooking, to the total bemusement of Mikan who didn't know how to cook much of anything besides instant ramen and rice. The girl with the blue hair was Ogasawara Nonoko, and she was a cheerful, gentle girl, by her interaction with Anna Mikan could tell the girl's were close. The girl in the middle was Imai Hotaru, she didn't introduce herself, in fact she barely said anything at all, only uttering a yes, or a no when asked a question, and she didn't look up from her book at all.

"I can't believe Koizumi did that!" Anna said suddenly, Mikan cocked her head to the side.

"Koizumi? Wasn't that the..."

"The girl who knocked you down," Nonoko said patiently.

"Yeah, I mean, I knew she was bad," Anna continued, "But I've never seen her be such a...such a..."

"Bitch?" Nonoko finished with a smile.

"Yeah, that."

"Both of you are missing the most important point,"

All three girls looked at Hotaru in surprise, she had finally set down her book and was looking at Mikan shrewdly with her unreadable violet eyes.

"Yeah?" Anna asked "What's that?"

"Natsume stood up for her," Hotaru flicked her eyes over to where the raven haired boy from earlier was still standing, his head cocked to listen to a blond boy who was talking animatedly.

"Does he only talk to equally attractive boys?" Mikan asked, all of the sudden his eyes slid over to hers and he quirked his eyebrow as if to ask what she was looking at. She quickly looked at Hotaru who, Mikan could tell by the look on her face, hadn't missed their little exchange.

"No, sometimes he talks to ugly boys" Anna chuckled "The guy beside him is Nogi Ruka, they've been friends forever."

"Natsume doesn't really get along well with people, he's kind of an asshole." Nonoko shrugged her shoulders.

"That doesn't really stop girl's like Koizumi and Shouda," Said Anna. "They don't care that he's an asshole, as long as he's hot."

"And rich," Said Nonoko nodding.

"The evil combination," Mikan said with a smile. "Too much money and too little morality."

"That's Hotaru too!" Said Anna, Hotaru shrugged, not denying it.

Mikan jumped as the school bell screamed over head. Hotaru stood up first, shutting her book with a _clap_. She moved around the table to head to her next class but paused and turned to Mikan.

"Hey, new girl..."

"My name is..."

"That's not important, if you want to survive at Alice Academy you better be careful around bitches and black cats."

"Do you belong in one of those categories?" Mikan asked. She thought she saw a ghost of a smile on Hotaru's face.

"Maybe," she said, turning and disappearing into the crowd.

~X~x~X~x~X~

Mikan was in a much better mood as she walked to 5th period, Physical Education. She was confident in this area, and since speaking to Anna, Hotaru, and Nonoko she didn't feel so alone anymore. She couldn't wait to tell Narumi about them. She hummed quietly to herself as she changed into her gym clothes.

She hardly noticed the eyes on her as she stepped out onto the track. She took off as soon as the coach blew the whistle and all the sudden she was flying, completely in her element. Every thought fled from her mind except the way her sneakers felt as they pounded the pavement, how every muscle in her body screamed with tension. Her braids flew behind her, her ribbons a little red flash of color at the ends.

She came in third, but even so she felt incredible. She staggered to the bleachers to grab a water bottle and found the boy with red eyes perched on the highest one, watching her. He was alone, the boy from before, Ruka was nowhere to be seen. The intensity in his eyes caught Mikan off guard. He didn't seem to mind that she knew he was staring. Mikan kept eye contact as she drank, Natsume never looked away, nor did he say anything. He seemed content just to watch her.

"Is there something you want?" she said, cupping her hands around her mouth so he could hear her better. He clearly had no intention of answering her or coming down so Mikan decided that she would go to him. His constant stare was annoying, and a little unnerving. "Is there something you want?" she said again. Natsume tilted his head and his bangs fell away from his eyes increasing their intensity. Mikan felt her heart beating in her throat.

"No." his voice was as husky and rough as she remembered it, but something about it had a weird...effect on her. She turned her head to hide her blush, irritated with herself for acting this way.

"Funny, by the way you were staring I could have swore you had something to say." it came out snappier than she intended it to, but she was irritated at herself, and it came out in her words.

"I wouldn't be staring if you had borrowed to wear an undershirt, nice polka dot bra by the way. It suits you, since your breasts obviously haven't changed since middle school."

Mikan gasped and covered her chest, her cheeks flaming. Natsume stood and stretched, making Mikan painfully aware of the wirey muscles that ran under his shirt.

"Don't be so arrogant as to think I'd be interested in a little girl like you."

"Don't be so arrogant as to think I'd want you to be!" Mikan hissed. Turning away to head back down the bleachers. Her hands crossed over her chest. She felt a sharp tug on her braid and she turned her head, expecting more abuse.

"Stay away from Koizumi, and for your own damn good, since your friends obviously can't convince you, stay the hell away from black cats." He jumped down the bleachers with surprising speed and agility and disappeared, leaving Mikan alone, embarrassed and confused.

 **A/N: Sorry it took so long, I have been really bombarded lately with babysitting and chores and all that. But I finally got it done. I'll write as much as I can as soon as I can.**


	4. Clues

**Chapter Four**

 **Clues**

"How was school?" Narumi asked brightly as Mikan hung up her bag. She was sure he could see by her expression and the sag of her shoulders but she only smiled and said

"Fine."

"Did you make any new friends?" he asked, inviting her to sit with him at the table where he had laid out a slice of cake for each of them, a reward for Mikan making it through her first day.

"I think so," she said, sitting down and fiddling with her fork. It was pure silver and the handle was engraved with lilies, everything in her grandmother's house was decorated with lilies.

"Any guys?" He asked, leaning forwards in, what Mikan assumed was an effort to make her come out of her shell.

"None of any importance," Mikan said irritably, stabbing her cake with the fork.

"Ah, one of _those_ guys," Said Narumi, he folded his legs in his usual flamboyant way and propped his hands up under his chin. Looking at him now, with his one dangling purple earring and his rather, _interesting_ choice of outfit it was hard to believe that he wasn't gay. When she had asked him about it as a little girl Narumi had only smiled and told her to ask her mother, but she never did..."Do tell," said Narumi, interrupting Mikan's reverie.

"Ah well, I forgot to wear an undershirt during PE," Mikan blushed at the memory. "And this boy completely teased me about it! He's a jerk...but..." she paused. "He did save me during lunch...what was that about?"

"So he's complicated," Narumi chirped. "I smell romance in the air! You know, your Mother and Father met at Alice Academy, of course their circumstances were...unusual, I hear it's still talked about today."

"My mother?" Mikan asked.

"And your father I assume, but Yuka most prominently I would imagine, she was a good girl. A lot of people really loved her..." Narumi's voice broke at the end and Mikan reached for his hand but stopped as something hit her.

"So THAT must be why that girl acting so weird this morning," she said aloud, Narumi gave her a puzzled look but she plowed on. "She must have recognized my mother's maiden name."

Narumi snapped to attention, his eyes wide. "What did she look like?" he asked, the earnestness in his voice startled her, but she closed her eyes and tried to remember.

"Dark...brown, no pink hair and brown eyes, she kinda looked like she gets into trouble a lot."

"Did she tell you her name?"

"No...do you think someone at my school knows where my mother is?"

Narumi's eyes went blank and he smiled a practiced smile, his hands fisted the table cloth and when he spoke his voice was gravely, something uncharacteristic about him, he was always very poised. "Of course not my dear, that sort of thing just doesn't happen," his eyes flicked upwards towards the staircase behind me and I followed his gaze. At the top of the stairs stood my grandmother, her face pinched and cruel. Without saying a word she turned and left.

~x~X~x~X~x~X~x~

The next day at school was easier, the novelty had worn off and Mikan drifted through the halls as quiet and unnoticed as a ghost. At lunch she sat with Anna, Hotaru and Nonoko and smiled politely as Anna bounced from subject to subject without ever really sticking to one. During PE she made sure she was wearing her undershirt and didn't even bother to look up at the top of the bleachers when she went to grab her water bottle. Even though the intense feeling of being watched told her that he was there, waiting.

Narumi's words tugged at her, made her giddy and scared. Someone at this school might know where her mother went, _why_ she went. They might even know where, or _who_ her father was. A feeling of anxiety had nestled in her chest and it plagued her during her first school week, and her second. It was all she could think about until she had her third run in with _him_.

Mikan had been carefully avoiding Natsume since he had seen her bra, she hadn't looked at him, hadn't talked about him and had even managed to divert Anna when her tangled train of thought came to rest on something he had done. Each time she did this though, she noticed Hotaru's stony eyes on her, usually peeking over the top of whichever book she was reading at the time. The one thing Mikan could give him credit for was that he hadn't really told anyone about the PE incident, or else, Mikan was sure Koizumi would find some way to through it in her face. Whenever Mikan passed her in the halls the blonde was sure to shoot her a nasty smile or a gesture, it was just something she was used to now.

But on a Wednesday during her second week it seemed that Natsume was intent on having his presence known. During first period, which they shared, he had made a point of bumping into her desk as he made his way towards the front of the room to deliver his test. After second period she found him loitering in the halls by her locker, and as he passed her on her way to lunch he made sure to hold her gaze. Mikan felt like he was trying to tell her something without having to say anything to her, but she couldn't tell what. Her heart thrummed in her chest as she thought of all the possibilities. What if he knew something about her mom?

During lunch she was giddy, scouring the cafeteria for him much to the concern of Anna and Nonoko and the amusement of Hotaru. Natsume wasn't there, or if he was she couldn't see him, giving up she sighed in annoyance and returned her attention to her lunch, she wasn't hungry but she ate what she could, knowing that she'd need the energy and the more she ate at lunch the less she had to eat at dinner, under the vengeful glare of Noriko.

The rand, and Mikan stood up, moving like a zombie. She startled as a hand caught her sleeve and turned around to find Hotaru. The girl held a finger to her lips and slipped a note out from in between the pages of her book. She handed it to Mikan and left. Mikan opened it, in clipped handwriting she found the words

 _Keep your windows and doors locked tonight Polka_.


	5. Kiss

**Chapter Five**

 **Kiss**

There was no signature, there didn't need to be, Mikan knew who penned the letter as soon as she saw the handwriting and the mention of her polka dotted underclothes, while embarrassing pointed an arrow directly to Natsume. But what did it _mean?_ The note brought more questions than it did answers. Was it a threat? A warning? A clue? She had to talk to him, there was no running from it anymore. With the note in hand she turned on her heels and ran, ran to the bleachers where he always sat, alone during 5th period.

He was there, just like she knew he would be. He was stretched out, one arm pillowing his head while the other held a comic book, a slow breeze tousled his already messy hair and his school uniform shirt rose up a little, giving Mikan a little peek at his sculpted stomach. She shook her head, she didn't have time for that now. Clenching the paper in her hand she stormed up the steps and thrust it in his face.

"What does this mean?" her voice came out shrill, bothered. Natsume didn't bother to look up from his manga.

"Did you bother to read it polka dots?" he asked, his voice a bored monotone. But there was something edgy about the set of his jaw.

"Of course I read it, which is why I'm asking you what does it _mean_?" She pushed the note further into his face, her hand beginning to shake. "Does this have something to do with my mother? Does this have something to do with Sakura Yuka?"

Natsume slammed his book shut and ripped the note from her hands, tearing it into teeny tiny shreds that blew away when he opened his palm. "Will you _shut up_?" He hissed, his voice was a mix of emotion, anger, annoyance, desperation. "How stupid are you, talking about that shit in broad daylight like this?" he grabbed her hand in his and his skin was warm, almost hot against her clammy palms. "Come on," he pulled on her arm and led her haltingly down the bleacher steps. "You better hope no one sees us or I'll never fucking live it down." he was agitated, and it was scary. Mikan tried to pulls free of his grip but he just held her tighter, making sure not to hurt her.

He pulled her into the empty gym closet and kicked the door shut behind them, leaving them in complete darkness. There was some rustling and grunting and then Natsume's face came into view, lit up by a flickering yellow flame.

"Why do you have a lighter?" Mikan asked warily as his eyes, even redder in the light from the flame burrowed into hers.

"Because sometimes nosey little girls get too close and then they get burned." he flicked the lighter off and then back on, cursing under his breath.

"What does it mean?" Mikan asked again, her voice taking on a creeping desperation.

"Keep your doors locked at night, Yu-your mom had a lot of friends here, but she also had a lot of enemies, don't be stupid, keep your head down, and for the love of Christ stay the hell away from me!"

"You're the one sending me love notes," she hissed in the darkness. But her voice betrayed her tears and she sank down onto the cold cement floor. She heard Natsume shift and the lighter flickered back to life.

"Shit, you're not crying are you?"

Mikan didn't even bother to hide it, she curled herself into a tight ball and let her tears flow down her face, making as little noise as possible. Natsume cursed again and the grabbed her shoulder, not gently but not unkindly either. Using the him of his shirt he dabbed the moisture from her eyes.

"Just...just listen to me on this...fuck!" Mikan heard footsteps heading towards the gym closet and she moved her head from side to side. Natsume pushed her forwards, pressing his body uncomfortably against hers, he pinned her shoulders to the wall and stuck his leg between hers, effectively preventing her from moving. Mikan began to whine in protest but he covered her lips with his, draining all thought from her head just as the door opened and a sliver of light shined in.

"Oh!" it was a male voice, upon hearing it Natsume pulled away from Mikan, his lips making a soft wet noise as they left hers. He looked up into the doorway sighing in relief.

"Ruka, it's just you," The blonde boy Mikan had seen Natsume talking to early stood in the doorway, he smiled slightly, but his eyes were confused. Mikan stood stalk still too stunned to move, her eyes threatening to bulge clean out of her head.

"I'm just here to get the basket ball," he said, walking over to the basket where the balls were kept. "No need to stop on my account."

"Don't be stupid Ruka," said Natsume, but his eyes were kind. "She's a loud mouth I had to..."

"Yes, yes, Knight Natsume to the rescue, kissing pretty maidens and the like," Ruka shrugged his shoulders.

"You don't know what..."

"You don't know what I know," having selected a ball Ruka walked back out of the Gym closet and locked eyes with Mikan. "Don't let him corrupt you." he said with a wink, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Christ, if that was anyone but Ruka," Mikan heard Natsume pick his way across the crowded closet floor and let the light in just a crack. The light fell on her face, her eyes wide, her cheeks flushed, her mouth slightly open and her braids beginning to fray.

"Keep your doors locked." he said, and then he too was gone.


	6. Shut Tight

**Chapter Six**

 **Shut Tight**

He had kissed her...Natsume had kissed her on the mouth. No one had done that before, Natsume had...Natsume had stolen her first kiss. She was embarrassed, no she was sad, no she was _furious_! To lose her first kiss to someone like Natsume was almost insulting, and he hadn't even told her what his letter meant. Her face was hot but whether that was from embarrassment or anger she didn't know. With a groan she slipped out of the gym closet and into a mostly empty courtyard. Standing only a few feet away, camera in hand stood Hotaru.

"Did you...?"

"See you an Natsume escape into the Gym closet together? No, but I heard about it, I stopped by to see if I could get any black mail..." she looked down at her camera and ' _tsked'_. "But no luck," with a sigh, she shoved the camera into her skirt pocket.

"How did you know?"

"I have my ways," She looked at Mikan, her eyes squinting slightly to get a better look at her, despite the harsh sunlight. "You don't look so good,"

Mikan looked at her feet, her head was throbbing and her face felt hot, but she didn't feel sick. "I'm fine, can I ask you a question?"

"You can ask," said Hotaru, cocking her head to the side, "But I'll decide whether I answer or not."

"Who is Natsume?"

Hotaru shrugged her shoulders, but her eyes flashed, for just a moment. "Natsume is just a jerk, he spends his days as he pleases and doesn't do anything that doesn't suit him. There's nothing really..." she paused to cough into her uniform sleeve, " _special,_ about him except that he's good looking, and is the heir to a car company."

"Car company?" Mikan was caught of guard. Natsume's family owned a car company?

"Hyuga Auto Company? Surely you've seen their commercials? They play on practically every channel now."

Mikan had heard of them, the commercials were typical, a sleek car rushing down an empty highway, a happy couple at the wheel, the sun setting in the background. Their slogan: Plan your escape with Hyuga's Auto Company. Mikan had seen the commercial hundreds of times. And, back before her dad had left (Much like Yuka herself had, suddenly and without warning.) Mikan thought she could vaguely remember him owning one. Her mom had always loved the cars, she used to tell her that they were special to Izumi and herself. Mikan felt her chest clench at the memory and she shook her head.

"Does he...no...Have you heard of anyone called Sakura Yuka?" Mikan asked. She subconsciously lifted a hand to fiddle with the ribbons that were coming loose in her hair. Hotaru dug her cellphone out of her pocket and began fiddling with it, carefully avoiding eye contact with Mikan.

"No, I haven't heard of anyone by that name."

"What about Yukihira Izumi? They're my parents...I...I didn't really know my dad...I mean, I _knew_ him but..."

"Shut up!" Hotaru snapped, when she looked at Mikan her eyes were cold. Mikan flinched away from her, frightened. "I don't have time to stand around all day and answer all these questions, I told you why I was here and now I'm going to head back to my class." She turned away from Mikan and slipped back into the building, never once looking back.

~x~X~x~X~x~X~x~

"Mikan-chan? Mi-kan-chan?" Narumi tried in vain to get her attention, she had been spacing out all day with a worried expression on her face. It was beginning to bother him, he brought his hand close to her ear and snapped his fingers, making her jump.

"Narumi?" she asked, as if she had just noticed him, even though he had been trying to get her attention for the last five minutes.

"Are you alright Mikan? Did..." he looked around, making sure that neither Noriko nor Hotaka were anywhere in sight. "Did something happen?"

Mikan looked like she was just waking from a deep sleep, she shook her head and slapped her cheeks. "No...I mean yes! Are the doors locked?"

The question confused Narumi, Mikan had never cared about the doors before, and when she and Yuka lived together their door was never locked. "I don't know, is something worrying you?"

Mikan put on her biggest, fakest smile, only intensifying his feelings of worry. "Not really, Tokyo is just so big! You never know what kind of stuff could happen, better to be safe than sorry, right?"

"Right..." perhaps Narumi had been wrong in bringing her here, but who else could have watched over Mikan? Out of all of them Kaoru was dead, Yuka and Izumi was missing and Reo had joined the Yakuza, it had to be him, he knew that. But maybe trying to keep Mikan close was only putting her in danger...

"Mikan do you...?"

"Do you know why Grandmother hates my mom so much?"

This question was even more unexpected than the last, Narumi felt his face bleach of color. He had to answer her, but how much could he tell her?

"Noriko-san blames Yuka for Izumi going missing," he said slowly, Mikan was listening, but her face was blank, her eyes carefully devoid of any emotion. She was hiding something.

"Does she have reason to?"

Narumi looked at the clock. It was almost 6:30, Noriko would be down to make dinner soon and Hotaka would return from wherever he spent his days.

"I promise we'll talk about this Mikan but now isn't the time." He jerked his head to the staircase, where they both heard the tell-tale scrape of Noriko's sandals on the wooden floor. Mikan tightened the ribbons around her braids, an act of defiance, Narumi wanted to smile and cry all at the same time, she was so like her mother.

When Noriko entered the dining room she wrinkled her nose like she had just smelled something awful. Mikan looked at her unflinching as she made her way to the table with small shaking steps. She had been wrestling with her fear all night, and as the woman toddled into view she found that she was making a monster out of nothing. Noriko might be a mean spirited old biddy, but Mikan had nothing to fear, not from her at least.

Not when there were so many other things to be afraid of.

"Don't you look at me like that!" the old woman snapped. Mikan held the woman's gaze.

"Why?" she asked, it was an honest question, but she could see it made Noriko uncomfortable.

"Don't talk back to me!"

"I'm not, I'm only asking a question, why does it bother you so much just to look at me."

Noriko was beginning to get flustered, Mikan could tell. Narumi grabbed her uniform sleeve and gave it a sharp tug. She turned to look at him and felt a sharp _smack_ on the back of her head. She turned back around to see Noriko holding a spoon, ready to strike again.

"Stop it!" Narumi yelled rising from his seat, but Noriko brought the spoon down again, hitting Mikan's jaw hard. Mikan yelped in pain and grabbed her jaw, prompting Noriko to hit her knuckles. Narumi was on his feet now, he grabbed the old woman and removed the spoon from her shaking hands. His face was ominous, for a moment Mikan thought he was going to hit Noriko with the spoon. She could already feel the welts rise on her skin, mostly on her jaw and on her knuckles. She would have bruises tomorrow.

The front door opened and Hotaka stepped in, looking exhausted. He slipped off his shoes on the mat and stepped into the dining room, blinking in surprise at the spectacle. Narumi released Noriko and headed upstairs, beckoning Mikan to follow him. Mikan got to her feet, but she didn't follow him right away, instead she walked over to the front door, and locked it.


End file.
